Deutonura persica, Smolis & Shayanmehr & Yoosefi-Lafooraki, 2018

Smolis, Adrian, Shayanmehr, Masoumeh & Yoosefi-Lafooraki, Elham, 2018, New members of the genera Neanura MacGillivray, 1893 and Deutonura Cassagnau, 1979 (Collembola: Neanuridae) from the Middle East, European Journal of Taxonomy 406, pp. 1-16 : 9-13

Deutonura persica sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:412B7B74-6689-4D39-A09A-871119ED0754

Figs 3–4 ; Table 2

Diagnosis

Habitus typical of genus. Dorsal tubercles present and well developed. Body white, with 2+2 dark pigmented eyes. Buccal cone short, labrum without ogival sclerifications. Cephalic tubercles Af and Cl generally not fused. No granular area between chaetae A and B. Head without chaetae O, C, E, Dl3, L2 and L3. Th. III with 3+s chaetae De. Tubercles Di on Abd. V not bilobed. Cryptopygy present and strongly developed. Male ventral organ present.

Etymology

The specific epithet ‘ persica ’ refers to the historical name of Iran, the terra typica of the new species.

Material examined

Holotype IRAN: adult ♀, on slide, Mazandarn Province, Neka Region , Hezarjarib Forest , 36°37′ N, 53°21′ E, dead wood, 28 Mar. 2013, E. Yoosefi Lafooraki leg. ( DIBEC).

Paratypes

IRAN: 4 adult ♀♀, 2 adult ♂♂, 1 subadult ♂, 1 juvenile, on slides, collected from moss on tree, leaf litter, dead wood in a hole of Persian ironwood ( Parotia persica ), same collection data as for holotype ( DIBEC).

Description

BODY. Length (without antennae): 0.49 to 1.50 mm (holotype: 0.85 mm). Body slightly flattened. Body colour white. 2+2 medium black eyes, in typical arrangement for genus.

CHAETAL MORPHOLOGY. Dorsal ordinary chaetae of five types: long macrochaetae (Ml), short macrochaetae (Mc), very short macrochaetae (Mcc), mesochaetae and microchaetae. Long macrochaetae thickened, subcylindrical, slightly arc-like or straight, narrowly sheathed, serrated, apically rounded or rarely, in lateral part of body, pointed ( Figs 3B, F–G , 4B ). Macrochaetae Mc and Mcc thickened, slightly fusiform, straight and apically rounded. Mesochaetae similar to ventral chaetae, thin, smooth and pointed. Microchaetae similar to mesochaetae, but distinctly shorter. S–chaetae of tergites thin, smooth and short, distinctly shorter than nearby macrochaetae ( Figs 3B, F–G , 4B–C ).

ANTENNAE. Typical of genus. Ant. I–II with 7 or 11 ordinary chaetae, respectively. Ant. III with 5 S-chaetae (AOIII) and 17 ordinary chaetae: 4 d, 4 vi, 4 vc and 5 ve ( Fig. 3A, I ). Sensillum sgv long and thin. Ant. IV dorsally with the complete set of chaetae: 8 S, or, i, 12 mou and 3 brs. S–chaetae of Ant. IV of medium length, subequal and moderately thickened. Apical vesicle distinct, trilobed ( Fig. 3C–D ). Ant. IV ventrally with complete set of chaetae (3 brs, 2 iv; ap: 8 bs and 5 miA; ca: 2 bs and 3 miA; cm: 3 bs and 1 miA; cp: 8 miA and 1 brs). Dorsal chaeta d5 absent on Ant. III.

MOUTHPARTS. Buccal cone relatively short, with labral sclerifications non-ogival. Labrum chaetotaxy: 2/2, 4 ( Fig. 3H ). Labium with four basal, three distal and three lateral chaetae, papillae x absent ( Fig. 3E ). Maxilla styliform, mandible thin and tridentate.

DORSAL CHAETOTAXY AND TUBERCLES. Head without granular area between chaetae A and B. Chaetotaxy of head strongly reduced ( Fig. 3B, F ). Elementary tubercles DE and EE on head absent. Cephalic chaetae A distinctly shorter than B. Chaetae Ocm and Ocp of nearly equal length. Chaetae De2 on head usually as mi, rarely as Mcc. Chaetae Dl2 on head as mi or Mcc ( Fig. 3B, F ). Chaetae Di 3 on Th. II-III free ( Fig. 3B ). On Th. III, chaetae De2 longer than De3. On Abd. I–III chaetae De2 shorter than De3 ( Fig. 3G ). Chaeta Di2 on Abd. V as microchaeta, Di3 as mi or Mcc. Cryptopygy strong, Abd. VI hardly visible from above.

VENTRAL CHAETOTAXY. On head, groups Vea, Vem and Vep with 4, 3, 4 chaetae respectively ( Fig. 3F ); group Vi with 6 chaetae. On Abd. IV, furcal rudiment with 4 microchaetae ( Fig. 4A ). Tubercle L on Abd. IV with 5–6 chaetae. Male with thick and forked chaetae (“male ventral organ”) on even anal valves (Abd. VI), in groups Vei, Vec and Vel (Abd. IV), and Fu (Abd. III; Fig. 4A ).

LEGS. Claw without internal tooth. On tibiotarsi, chaeta M present and chaetae B4 and B5 relatively short and pointed.

Variability

A complete fusion of the cephalic tubercles Af and Cl has been observed in a single specimen. Nevertheless, based on the available material it is hard to assess definitively whether it is just an aberrant form or an example of morphological variation within the species.

Remarks

Using the recent published key of the genus ( Deharveng et al. 2015), Deutonura persica sp. nov. seems to be most similar to D. plena (Stach, 1951) , a species described and only known from the Western and Eastern Carpathians. These two taxa, however, can easily be distinguished using a number of characters: chaetae C and E on the head (absent in persica ; present in plena ), elementary tubercles DE and EE on the head (absent in persica ; present in plena ), number of lateral chaetae (L+So) on the head (8 in persica ; 10 in plena ), number of prelabral chaetae (2 in persica ; 4 in plena ), number of lateral chaetae on the labium (3 in persica ; 4 in plena ), microchaetae on Fu (present in persica ; absent in plena ), male ventral organ (present in persica ; absent in plena ) and relative length of chaetae De2 and De3 on Abd. I–III (De3 longer than De 2 in persica ; De3 shorter than De 2 in plena ).

Only one species of Deutonura , D. decolorata ( Gama & Gisin, 1964) , has previously been recorded ( Cox 1982; Shayanmehr et al. 2013) from Iran. This species was described and is otherwise known only from the French Alps ( Gisin 1964; Porco et al. 2010). Because of the fused cephalic tubercles Af and Cl, D. decolorata belongs to the small conjuncta species group, containing only 4 European species ( Deharveng 1979). We have detected a similar fusion of cephalic tubercles in a single individual of D. persica sp. nov. (see Variability). In light of the known distribution of D. decolorata and the above observation, the record of D. decolorata from Iran should probably be treated as highly uncertain.

Figures

Fig. 3. Deutonura persica sp. nov. A. Dorsal chaetotaxy of Ant. III–IV. B. Dorsal chaetotaxy of head and Th. C. Apical bulb, ventral view. D. Apical bulb, dorsal view. E. Chaetotaxy of labium. F. Ventral and lateral chaetotaxy of head. G. Dorsal chaetotaxy of Abd. III–VI. H. Labrum. I. Ventral chaetotaxy ofAnt. III. Scale bars:A, C–E, H–I = 0.01 mm; B, F–G = 0.1 mm.

Fig. 4. Deutonura persica sp. nov. A. Ventral chaetotaxy of Abd. III–VI, adult male. B. Ml Di1 of Abd. V. C. Sensillum ofAbd.V. Scale bars:A–C = 0.1 mm.

Tables

Table 2a. Chaetotaxy of Deutonura persica sp. nov.: cephalic chaetotaxy–dorsal side.

Tubercle	Number of chaetae	Types of chaetae	Names of chaetae
Cl	4	Mc me	F G
		Ml	B
Af	6	Mc	A
		mi	D
Oc	3	Ml mi	Ocm, Ocp Oca
		Ml	Di, De1
(Di+De)	4	Mc or Mcc	Di2
		Mcc or mi	De2
		Ml	Dl1, Dl5
Dl	5	Mcc Mcc or mi	Dl4 Dl2
		mi	Dl6
		Ml	L1, L4, So1
(L+So)	8	me	So3–6
		mi	So2